Couple Adoption Updates

** We received a letter in the mail on Friday detailing the merger. LL will be merging with Lutheran Child and Family Services. The letter specifically states "We do not expect to have any delays or disruptions in our placements". I called our SW just to confirm a few things. Most importantly, she confirmed LCFS does not currently have any adoption programs. She agreed and added that this is good news; as the current Korean program will not change and our spot on the list will remain.

**Our HomeStudy has been approved by DCFS and our 1st Endorsement Letter has been sent to our SW. Now that this approval has been given,we can go ahead and submit our I600a --(Application for Advance Processing of Orphan Petition)

**I600a completed and sent to SW yesterday.

***I just love checking off steps in the process**** :)

Gracie Started Soccer

Gracie started soccer this year. The games are on Saturday mornings....so cute and so fun. At this age, the kids all cluster around the ball and try their hardest just to get a kick in. She loves it and it is so much fun to watch too.

1 Year of Waiting

Tomorrow marks our 1 YEAR anniversary on LL’s Korean Waiting list. We are currently #8 on the list….. which we are very happy about. If you would've asked me last year at this time where I’d thought we’d be; I would have told you much closer to #1. When we got on the list, waiting time to Referral was about 12 months and waiting time from Referral to Travel Call was 3-4 months. You may or may not recall, that babies in Korea are available for international adoption at 5 months of age (referrals are given to families when babies are 5 months old). So last year at this time, babies were coming home around 8 or 9 months of age. In the past year, the wait time from Referral to Travel call has significantly increased. Referrals are still given to families at 5 months but, the wait time until travel call has increased to 7-9months. This means babies are coming at about 13 – 14 months old.
I would be lying if I didn't say at times the wait really bothers me, and the idea of missing major milestones in our son's life makes me sad, and bringing home an older baby scares me a bit. But, most of the time, I'm okay with everything. It will all work itself out. We also now have all the uncertainty about how LL’s merger is going to affect of all this. We should know more about this by the end of the month. I’m hoping for positive news and not much change to the program….let’s all pray and keep our fingers crossed.